1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a vehicular number plate including luminous characters, numerals or similar marks. More particularly, the present invention relates to a number plate of the foregoing type which assures that the number plate can not intentionally be falsified in order to indicate another characters, numerals or similar marks on the front surface thereof, it exhibits excellent durability, and it can be fabricated at an inexpensive cost.
2. Description of the Related Art
A hitherto known number plate including luminous characters, numerals or similar marks (hereinafter referred to simply as a luminous number plate) is typically constructed as shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6. Specifically, the luminous number plate includes a flat case 1 to which an openable frame 2 is turnably fitted. A front plate 4 coated with a paint having a specified color is attached to the frame 2 to serve as a so-called number plate by tightening set screws. The number plate 4 has a plurality of character portions 3 punched therefrom to which characters 31 each molded of a transparent synthetic resin are adhesively secured. To illuminate the character portions 3 at night, two bulbs 5 are disposed inside of the flat case 1.
With the conventional luminous number plate as constructed in the above-described manner, when the characters 31 are illuminated by the bulbs 5, they can visually be recognized from remote locations. However, it has been found that the conventional luminous number plate has a drawback that the respective characters 31 are illuminated in a different manner such that the characters located directly above the illuminating bulbs 5 are brightly illuminated but the characters located remote from the illuminating bulbs 5 are hardly visually recognized.
To obviate the foregoing drawback, a translucent milk-white light scattering plate 7 (see FIG. 6) having black paints 6 coated and baked in the regions corresponding to the illuminating bulbs 5 while having a thickness gradually reduced toward the peripheral part thereof is interposed between the front plate 4 and the bulbs 5 so as to allow a quantity of light beam measured directly above the bulbs 5 or in the vicinity of the same to be reduced in order to assure that character portions 3 are uniformly illuminated (refer to an official gazette of Japanese Utility Model publication No. 16,308/1978).
With the conventional luminous number plate constructed in that way, since reversionless type set screws are used for fixedly securing it to the openable frame 2, once the front plate 4 is fixed to the openable frame 2 by tightening the reversionless type set screws, the former can not be disconnected from the latter. However, the front plate 4 can not always be disconnected from the openable frame 2 because of the employment of the reversionless type set screws. When it is assumed that the front plate 4 is forcibly disconnected from the openable frame 2 by actuating a certain tool, there is a possibility that the characters 31 are removed or disconnected from the character portions 3 to that they are exchaged with another ones.